May 22, 2012: Black Out Speak Out – June 4

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Speak out on June 4, 2012 in defence of two core Canadian values: nature and democracy.

Join a committed group of organizations representing millions of Canadians as we darken our websites in protest against efforts to silence your voice.

In the 2012 Federal Budget released this spring, the Conservative government moved to decimate cultural programs and long-standing organizations such as Katimavik (eliminated), the National Film Board (-$7M), Telefilm Canada (-$10M), and the National Art Centre (-$2M). At the same time, $8M was allocated to CRA watchdogs to scrutinize community groups and their charity statuses; and while the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the National Energy Board were pushed out of their ‘informed decision making’ position to the sidelines, alterations were found in the omnibus budget bill with aims to weaken the Fisheries Act. Another notch to the long list of cuts was directed at the National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy (NRTEE), an advisory body created in 1988 to produce research on how business and government policies can work together for sustainable development and examine ways to reach our international commitments to reducing greenhouse gas pollution. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird summed up why it was scheduled to be dismantled by saying, “the thing the national round table will be remembered for certainly over the last five or 10 years is its ongoing push for a carbon tax…”.

Have you read our new report? Dirty Oil Diplomacy – The Canadian Government’s Global Push to Sell the Tar Sands

The new report launched on March 8th outlines the changing domestic and international policies of the Canadian government as they work to expand the tar sands. Based on hundreds of pages of documents obtained through Canadian freedom of information laws, it paints a clear picture for the first time of the tar sands advocacy strategy, a collaborative effort of the Governments’ of Canada and Alberta along with industry to ensure that no doors are closed to Canada’s highly polluting tar sands.